Resolutions
by MadiWillow
Summary: The immediate aftermath of the hostage situation. OneShot.


**AN: **I absolutely LOVE this show and cannot stop thinking about Sunday's episode. Since next week's episode probably will not show what happened right after the hostages got out, I'm going to tell what I think, and hope, happened. And this includes the last scene but with dialogue.

**Title: **_Resolutions  
_**Rating:** _T  
_**Author: **_MadiWillow  
_**Summary: **_The immediate aftermath of the hostage situation.  
_**Genre:** _Drama/Tragedy  
_**Chapter: **_One-shot_

Julie's legs felt like huge blobs of jell-o as she walked out of the supermarket, blinking at the sun. She honestly didn't think she'd see the light of day ever again, despite Austin's reassurances. She felt like she was in a dream; she was still terrified that somehow Carolyn was going to come back alive and start shooting at them. Catching sight of her mom, she felt her throat constrict as she ran towards her. Her mother threw her arms around here and cried, "Oh Julie, I'm so sorry, I thought for sure you were going to die."

"I'm fine, Mom," said Julie softly as they broke away. Susan ran her hands over Julie's face and Julie was vaguely aware of a news camera capturing the entire thing. She stole a glance to the side and saw Austin with Edie. He looked at her and they held eye contact for a few seconds before Julie ran and threw her arms around him. "Hey," he said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly to him.

After a moment they broke apart and Austin brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "You okay?" he asked, concerned. She nodded, her knees still shaking. Edie reached out and hugged Julie as well, caressing her hair as they broke apart. "I'm so happy you're okay, sweetie." Julie nodded mutely.

She glanced back at her mom, who was standing with her boyfriend, Ian. She waved a short good-bye to Austin and Edie and retreated to her mother. Ian swept her up in his arms and hugged her as well, which took Julie by surprise but comforted her nonetheless.

"Can we go, Mom?" pleaded Julie after Ian released her.

Susan shook her head sadly. "No, I'm sorry, honey. The police are probably going to question you for a bit."

Julie sighed and nodded.

Lynette's arm was throbbing so painfully that she wanted nothing more than to have it amputated. Every nerve in her arm was on fire, and if she moved any bone in it it would sear with pain. She was delirious. She only thing she could think of was, Am I dead? Where's Nora? Tom?

She could hear voices and her body was floating. She thought for a moment that she was indeed dead, and going to heaven, but then realized that she was very well alive and being wheeled out of the supermarket by two paramedics. Carolyn's dead... she thought. Oh, thank God. It's over.

Her arms was wrapped up tightly to stop the bleeding and, due to her shivering, they covered her up with a blanket. She was soon outside, in the bright sun, which caused her to squint. She looked around for a moment before her face became obscured by shadow, and she was able to make out Tom's face.

"Tom..." she said quietly.

He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her bloodied forehead. "Shh, it's okay." She heard him ask the paramedics, "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes sir," one answered. "She only got shot in the shoulder. She's very lucky."

"Tom," Lynette slurred. The pain in her arm was almost unbearable; although the doctor said she was going to live, she wasn't sure if she could believe him. The pain was too much and she had to let Tom know this. "Tom, Nora's dead."

"Nora... what?!"

"She... she followed me into the supermarket and... and Carolyn shot her," she gasped out. "She told us to-to look after Kayla. She wants us... to raise her..." She started to cry slightly. "Tom, it's all my fault..."

"Oh, Lynette, it's not your fault." Tom's voice cracked as he spoke. "The only person whose fault it is is Carolyn's, okay Lynette? Don't blame yourself."

All Lynette could do was shake her head before passing out.

Bree's heart was thumping like crazy as she watched hostages coming out of the supermarket. The only thing she could think about was her overwhelming sense of guilt. Everything was her fault... all of it. If only she hadn't been so selfish and spiteful to actually tell a woman that her husband had had an affair to simply hurt her, none of this would be happening. They wouldn't be here, anxiously awaiting to hear of Julie's, Edie's, and Lynette's fates. They wouldn't all be gathered around the television, watching this tragedy unfold. It was all her fault.

Five hostages had come out so far and none of them were anyone familiar. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt like she was going to wet herself, she was so nervous. She almost couldn't sit still. The reporter had said the victim was female... the odds of one of her friends being shot was very high...

Suddenly everyone sighed in relief and Bree opened her eyes. They had just showed Edie leaving the store with her nephew. One down, two to go... Bree couldn't help but think.

And then Julie exited the store. Bree let out a small breath that she had been holding. They watched as Julie hugged her mother and then Edie's nephew. A couple neighbors stood up and clinked glasses; Danielle started to cry; and Carlos and Gabby embraced. But they were still waiting impatiently for Lynette.

They wheeled her out a couple of seconds later... and she was in a stretcher. Everyone drew in one big, collective gasp as the site of her. The left half of her body was covered and she had blood on her right hand and face. The fact that the heart is located on the left side of the body crossed Bree's mind when she saw her. She looked down sadly and breathed in deeply. Please don't be dead, Lynette, please, she thought frantically. They showed Lynette talking with Tom before she passed out. She was wheeled into the ambulance, followed by Tom, and the ambulance sped away.

"Mrs. Hodge, was that daddy on the television?" came a small voice.

Bree whipped around to see Parker, Lynette's youngest son, staring at the TV with his older twin brothers, Porter and Preston, on either side of him.

"Mrs. Hodge, where's mommy?" asked Porter.

Before Bree could answer, however, the reporter came back on and answered their questions.

"The victims of the standoff have just been identified. Nora Huntington was shot and killed by the first bullet we heard go off. Soon after her death, Mrs. Bigsby shot Lynette Scavo in the left shoulder before her gun was overtaken and she herself was shot in the head, and killed, by fellow hostage Mary Peoples. We are told that Mrs. Scavo is going to make a full recovery. All other hostages have exited the building and are currently safe, all reunited with their families."

There was a long silence before Parker's breaking voice asked, "Are they talking about mommy? And Kayla's mom?"

"Yes, honey," Bree explained carefully. "Your mom got hurt at the store, and your dad is with her, but don't worry. She's going to be just fine."

"What about Kayla's mom?" asked Preston.

"Well-" Bree felt very uncomfortable having to explain this situation to three young boys, let alone in front of the whole neighborhood. "Kayla's mom is in heaven."

"Why?"

"Um, well..." Bree sighed, defeated. "Maybe you should wait 'till we can go see mommy and daddy at the hospital."

"Can we go now?" asked Parker anxiously

"Maybe in a few minutes," Bree answered awkwardly. "We'll wait until daddy calls."

Finally, after over an hour of Edie, Austin, and Julie being repeatedly interrogated by the authorities, they were allowed to return home. Edie and Austin took their own car while Julie, Susan, and Ian were driven in Ian's limo. Susan didn't let go of Julie's hand the entire way back, as if afraid that she would somehow die during the car ride. Julie bitterly realized her mom was going to be super-overprotective of her for a long while.

When the turned the corner onto Wisteria Lane, Julie noticed the entire neighborhood was gathered in front of Bree's house, as if they were waiting for them. Her heart started racing – she hadn't realized how much attention this must've received.

Almost as soon as they exited the limo, the same time Austin and Edie emerged from their car, everyone started cheering and clapping for them. Julie and Austin exchanged glances before they were engulfed by a sea of neighbors, all hugging them and exclaiming how happy they were that they were alive.

"Julie, I thought for sure you were dead!" sobbed Danielle into Julie's shoulder. "They said a girl was shot, and it took you forever to get out of there... why didn't you run out, huh? You had us all worried sick!"

"I – I'm sorry," Julie said, taken aback. She awkwardly patted Danielle on the back as she cried.

"Chill out, Danielle," came Andrew's voice from behind his sister. Danielle untangled herself from Julie, still crying, and swatted at him. Andrew ducked and then put his arms around Julie, hugging her tightly. She hugged him back and after they broke apart, he said, "We really _were_ worried, though."

"How did you guys even know I was in there?" asked Julie, her brow furrowed. "Did the police somehow find out everyone's names?"

Andrew shook his head. "Nah, Miss Britt called and told us that you and Mrs. Scavo were there."

"Oh." Julie thought back to the incident again and shivered. She didn't think she could stop herself from crying if she relived it.

"Julie." She turned and was embraced by Gabrielle, followed by Bree. Gabby looked a mess – somehow Julie didn't think it was from what had happened – and Bree looked paler than usual. "Sweetie, we're so glad you're okay, we were so worried!" Gabby told her passionately.

"Julie, I don't know what I would've done, had anything happened to you," Bree told her sadly after they, too, had hugged. Julie felt a lump form in her throat as the two women walked away. She wasn't sure how much more of this she could stand. She felt someone tug her hand and turned to face Austin. He jerked his head behind him and started to walk, indicating she should follow him. She did, and he led them to Edie's side yard, so that they were hidden from the neighbors. Once out of sight, he gathered her into his arms and hugged her for a long time.

After a moment they broke apart and held her at arm's length. "Are you okay?" he asked seriously. "You didn't look like you were make it for much longer."

She smirked slightly at him. "I've never seen you this sensitive," she joked, but he continued to watch her. She swallowed and looked down. "I feel... weird. Like this was all a dream. And I know it happened, but I feel like I can't relive it or else I'm just going to fall apart."

He blinked a couple times and then said, "I'm sorry."

She stared. "About what?"

"It's my fault we were in there," he told her, looking at the ground. "If I hadn't put the whiskey in your backpack... we wouldn't have gotten caught stealing and wouldn't have been in the store at the time."

Julie shook her head. "No, Austin, it's not your fault. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen. It's Carolyn's fault. She was the one with the gun; she was the one shooting people... killing people..." Julie's voice caught in her throat and her eyes started to water.

"Come here..." Austin gathered her into his arms the way he had in the supermarket and she started to cry. All the emotions she held inside of her through the whole standoff was pouring out of her as she sobbed. She was watching Nora get shot over and over again, all of the blood rapidly flowing out of her chest... her last words to Lynette... Lynette's explosion to Carolyn and the fear she felt when she thought Lynette was going to die... the fear that Austin was going to get killed as he was wrestling Carolyn... all of it just came spilling out of her.

A few minutes later she felt better. She wiped at her eyes and sniffed loudly, embarrassingly. She realized all too late that she had stained Austin's shirt with her tears and flushed. "Sorry," she muttered.

"Don't be," Austin assured her. He tilted her chin upward, much to her displeasure as her face was wet and blotchy. However, he didn't seem to care as he brought his face to her's and their lips met in a kiss.

It was just a sweet, innocent kiss; a kiss she definitely would not have expected from Austin Britt, but it came from him nonetheless. Perhaps the only reason he was acting to sensitive and mellow was because of what had just occurred, but Julie didn't mind. After the kiss she leaned her head against his chest and they sat there for a long time.

Lynette awoke some time later in the hospital; darkness had already fallen. It took her a couple minutes before she realized why was in the hospital, but the throbbing pains of her arms answered her unasked questions. The first thing she thought was to find Tom, and her kids. Poor Kayla... she thought. I wonder if Tom told her.

As if on cue, Tom entered the room with Preston, Porter, Parker, Penny, and Kayla. Tom whispered, "Okay, now, be quiet because mommy's sleeping-"

"No she's not!" Parker exclaimed loudly, pointing. "She's awake!"

Tom whipped his head around and breathed, "Lynette." He rushed over in two long strides and kissed her on the mouth. "How are you?"

She sighed. "I'm okay. How's everyone?"

"They're all good. Susan, Gabby, Bree, and Edie were here for a while but you sleeping so they had to leave. They'll be back in the morning."

Lynette gave him a look. "I meant..." She gestured toward Kayla.

"Oh," said Tom with realization. "She's... very upset."

Kayla chose that moment to burst into tears and run into Tom's arms. "Daddy, I miss mommy!" she sobbed.

"Honey, I know," Tom soothed. "We all miss her too. I'm sure she wishes she were still with her."

Kayla sniffed and stole a glance at Lynette. "Daddy said you were with mommy."

Lynette nodded, her throat tight. "I was."

"Did she say anything me?" she asked weakly.

Holding out her right arm to Kayla, she answered, "Of course." She held Kayla tight. "She told me that you were the best thing that had ever happened to her."

"Really?" sniffled Kayla.

"Yeah! And she told me to take good care of you. And I promised her that I would. Okay?"

Kayla nodded, her eyes shining. "I miss her," she said quietly.

"So do I," said Lynette earnestly. "I really do." She looked at Tom and said, "Do you think I could talk to daddy alone for a minute?"

"Okay, mom." Parket, Preston, Porter, and Kayla left the room, leaving the sleeping Penny inside.

As soon as the door was closed, Lynette said, "Tom, it's all my fault."

Tom sighed and sat on the edge of her bed. "I told you earlier, honey. It's not your fault."

"No, you don't understand!" Lynette cried hysterically. "Carolyn was there because her husband had cheated on her. I blurted out that Nora had tried to seduce you... that's why she got shot..." Lynette closed her eyes and let the tears leak through.

Tom was shocked for a moment but recovered. "Lynette, it was an accident, you had no idea-"

"We KNEW why she was there... but I said it anyway..." Lynette sobbed.

Tom gathered Lynette in his arms and held her, rocking her slowly back and forth as she cried. After pulling apart, he told her firmly, "Lynette, none of this is your fault. You didn't kill Nora, Carolyn did. End of story. I don't want you to feel guilty about it anymore. Please?"

Lynette nodded slowly.

"Should I bring the boys back in?" asked Tom by way of subject change.

Lynette shook her head. "No... I'm just... I'm gonna go back to sleep." Her eyes were drooping and she wanted nothing more than to stop thinking about what had happened that day.

"Okay." Tom kissed her on the forehead and repeated, "It's not your fault," before leaving.

She found it very hard to believe as she drifted off to sleep, and into her dreams...


End file.
